Florida

Teavana, a chain of stores that sells loose leaf teas from around the world, will open its first location in Sarasota inside the Mall at University Town Center.

The Atlanta-based chain of tea stores, which sells white, green, black, herbal, oolong, roobios and other kinds of tea, will open its 25th store in Florida, and first in Southwest Florida, in October, according to building permits filed with Sarasota County . The 880,00-square-foot mall, under construction at University Parkway and Interstate 75, has attracted many national tenants that are new to the region, including Apple, Anthropologie, Omega watch boutique, Tiffany’s & Co. and others. Teavana is known for having stores in upscale shopping malls. The company operates stores in every major mall in the Tampa Bay area, and one and in Naples.

In late 2012, Starbucks acquired the Tevana brand for $620 million.Last year, Starbucks debuted its Tevana bar concept in New York City, which merged the bakery and cafe atmosphere aspects of a Starbucks with the Teavana’s “wall of tea” feature and brighter theme.

The Mall at University Town Center is being developed by Manatee County-based Benderson Development and Taubman Centers. The Southwest Florida mall is expected to be the only enclosed mall to open this year come October.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

Sephora is the latest retailer to file building permits to open inside the new Mall at University Town Center, which is under construction at University Parkway and Interstate 75 in Sarasota County.

Sephora, a cosmetics and skincare chain, will open a store inside the mall alongside other tenants like Brooks Brothers, Gymboree, American Eagle Outfitters and a slew of others. Sephora products are sold inside JC Penney department stores, including at the Westfield Group Sarasota Square Mall. The chain will have its own storefront inside the Mall at UTC.

Southwest Florida area Sweetbay Supermarkets will close at the end of March as they transition into Winn-Dixie stores, local employees are reporting.

Jacksonville-based Bi-Lo Holdings purchased the Tampa Bay-based Sweetbay chain and two other brands from Sweetbay”s parent, Belgium-based Delhaize Group in May 2013. The $265 million deal included 72 Sweetbay stores in Florida and the leases for 10 Sweetbay stores that were closed before the sale.

This week, both grocery companies announced that they received approval to move forward with the sale from the Federal Trade Commission. The order will be subject to final approval by the FTC at the end of March, after a 30-day comment period.Local employees say Sweetbay stores will close on March 22 for 6-7 days as they transition into Winn-Dixie stores. That date is subject to change, as it falls before the official approval date set by the FTC.

Sweetbay closed 33 stores a year ago, or 30 percent of its locations in Florida, including four in Sarasota and Manatee counties. They will remain closed. Ten Sweetbay stores remain open in Southwest Florida.

Sweetbay Supermarkets began as a conversion of the former Kash N’ Karry in 2004. Now it will follow in its predecessor’s footsteps as an extinct grocery store brand in Florida.

Remaining Sweetbay Supermarkets expected to transition into Winn-Dixie stores at the end of March:

Sarasota County:

1325 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota

4230 Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota

2881 Clark Road, Sarasota

458 U.S. 41, Venice

1254 Jacaranda Blvd., Venice

Manatee County

5802 14th St. W., Bradenton

2501 Cortez Road W., Bradenton

5805 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton

515 Seventh St. W., Palmetto

Charlotte County

1951 S. McCall Road, Englewood

Photo by Chip Litherland, Herald-Tribune staff

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

In February, Sweetbay closed 33 stores, or 30 percent of its locations in Florida, which included four in Sarasota and Manatee counties. There are 10 Sweetbay stores that are still open in Southwest Florida.

It’s no question that Sweetbay has struggled in recent years to compete with Publix, which dominates the grocery scene in Florida. The Lakeland-based chain has expanded into new markets this year too, like Tennessee and North Carolina. Walmart has also aggressively opened more supercenter and neighborhood markets in Florida recent years.

Even after a multimillion-dollar renovation nearly a decade ago, Sweetbay Supermarkets fought to keep customers who complained about poor quality and high prices. This year the company tried investing in “green” ventures to attract customers, by selling seafood only from sustainable fisheries and eco-friendly flower bouquets around Mother’s Day.

Sweetbay began as a conversion of the former Kash N’ Karry in 2004.

Bi-Lo Holdings is ranked as the country’s fastest growing retailer for 2013 by Stores, a publication put out by the National Retail Federation.

Photo by Chip Litherland, Herald-Tribune staff.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

Publix SuperMarkets will buy seven Bi-Lo stores in North and South Carolina in a continued effort to expand into new markets along the East Coast.

Publix officials announced late last week that the chain will acquire four Bi-Lo stores in North Carolina and three in South Carolina. The deal is expected to close by the end of October.

“Publix has a strong financial foundation that allows us to aggressively grow throughout existing markets and our new Charlotte division,” said Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw, in a statement. “We’re excited to continue building life-long relationships with our Carolina customers and communities.”

Publix began its expansion into the Carolinas late last year. It will open its first store in Charlotte early next year. Other stores are slated for the Asheville, Cary, and Winston-Salem markets.

Jacksonville-based Bi-Lo Holdings, the parent company of Winn-Dixie, also announced last week that it would acquire 22 Piggly Wiggly stores in South Carolina and the coastal area of Georgia. Financial terms of the transaction was not disclosed.

Photo by Dale White, Herald-Tribune staff.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

For the first time ever in Florida, personal computers, electronic book readers and other electronics will be tax exempt during the back to school sales tax holiday this summer.

The Florida Legislature upgraded what is usually tax-fee during the sales tax holiday, which falls over the weekend of August 2-4 this year. Pencils, paper, erasers, notebooks and other back to school supplies have been expanded to include digital merchandise selling up to $750, according a press release from the Florida Retail Federation.

“Digital literacy is essential for our children, and we appreciate the work of all the legislative supporters of the sales tax holiday,” said Rick McAllister, president and CEO of the Florida Retail Federation, in a statement. “By expanding the sales tax holiday to include computers and accessories, Florida’s lawmakers are helping make these learning tools more affordable for families. It will give thousands of Florida families an opportunity to buy their first computers, or upgrade the ones they own.”

During the tax holiday weekend, there will be no state or local taxes on e-book readers like a Barnes & Noble Nook or Amazon Kindle, laptops, desktops and tablets. Cell phones, video game consoles and other digital media receivers are not included in the tax break.

Other tax exempt items this year include shoes and apparel up to $75 and school supplies up to $15.

The sales tax holiday weekend in Florida generated $115 million more in taxable sales in 2010, and gross sales projections for August 2010 surpassed $289 million, according to a study by the Washington Economics Group.

Photo by Mike Lang, Herald-Tribune staff.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

Florida was the state with the second highest amount of the “hot spot” restaurants on the Open Table 2013 Diner’s Choice Award winners for the top 100 hot spot restaurants in the United States.

The state had 18 restaurants on the list, most in the Miami and South Florida region, but some from Tampa, too. No Sarasota-area restaurants made the top 100 list. The only state to outrank Florida was California with 26 restaurants on the top 100 list. New York was third with 14 named restaurants.

The hot spot titles are awarded based on the opinions of more than 5 million reviews submitted by diners who use the OpenTable website’s rating service. More than 15,000 restaurants in all 50 states and Washington D.C. are listed.

Westfield Group, a global mall owner and operator, has formed a joint venture with an real estate investment firm that will share a stake in the portfolio of six regional malls in Florida, including Sarasota Square Mall and Southgate Mall.

O’Connor Capital Partners, a New York-based company, will take a 49.9 percent interest in the Westfield Group’s portfolio of the six Florida malls, according a media release. The stake is valued at $1.3 billion. The sale of half of Westfield’s Florida properties could signal that the mall developer is securing the funds needed to redevelop properties in the state, said Phoenix-based retail analyst, Jeff Green.

“This is good news. It shows that Westfield is paying attention to these properties,” Green said. ”

What this means is that the company is diversifying their portfolio and possibly getting some money together to put toward redevelopment,” he added.

Australia-based Westfield will gain $700 million in net proceeds from the transactions.

The announcement of the sale means that a plan or proposal has been put in place for the future of these properties, said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, a New York-based retail and investment firm.

“The first thing they have to do is line up the money, and they’ve found a partner willing to invest. That’s a positive,” Davidowitz said. “In order to get that investment, Westfield had to present them with a plan. They have a plan for these properties.”

Included in the portfolio are both SarasotaWestfield properties, Westfield’s Countryside Mall in Clearwater and Citrus Park in Tampa, Westfield Brandon in Brandon, and Westfield Broward in Plantation.

Sarasota Square Mall is one of the largest properties at 1,021,889 square feet but has the lowest leased rate at 82.1 percent. Southgate Mall is 91.5 percent leased, despite the recent announcement of Saks Fifth Avenue’s coming departure from the property.

The transactions are expected to close during the second quarter this year.

“This agreement carries on the Group’s strategy of introducing joint venture partners into our assets globally as well as disposing of non-core assets,” said Westfield Group co-chief executive officer Peter Lowy, in a statement.